The Fruit that is Wasted

Yet, you often struggle to bear fruit and share your faith with others.

You. And me. All of us.

Share your faith

While on a run, Jeremy and I found a huge row of berry bushes. Big, heavy with fruit bushes.

Because of the limited rain over the past month, the berries were struggling to ripen but they were there. Tons of them.

A few days after that run, we took the time to walk over to these bushes with the girls so that we could pick some berries.

And, standing there watching my family struggle to pick the fruit, God showed me something about fruit, our Christian walk and the ability to share your faith with others around the world.

You see, there were thousands of berries on these bushes. Slowly ripening, yes… but the fruit was there. The potential for fruit was quite unbelievable.

Yet as I stood there, staring at these bushes heavy with berries in all stages of readiness, I couldn’t help but feel sad at the great loss.

So, many berries. So much fruit.

So much waste.

Waste?

Yes… great waste.

These bushes, while quite fruitful and productive, were guarding their fruit so closely that the majority of the fruit would go to waste without anyone even benefiting from it.

Huge thorns protected the great magnitude of ripening fruit. Vines growing in and around and over and under each other. No space to climb through the branches to get to the higher fruit.

And we saw fruit up there. Completely guarded and surrounded by thorns and vines and branches. Completely unreachable by human hands.

All that beautiful, life-giving fruit.

Wasted.

Healthy, happy, growing, fruitful, plentiful bushes.

But no one could pick the fruit. No one could get to the health, nourishment and joy that the berries could provide. No pies. No jams. No pancakes. No ice cream topping. None.

Because the trees were holding on so closely to the fruit and it was impossible to access it by those seeking the bounty.

And I wondered, is this what we do with our faith?

Do we cluster together, feed from each other, grow in our knowledge of spiritual things, look beautiful and life-giving but when others look in, we are full of thorns and the fruit of our growth is unreachable, unattainable, unable to bless and nourish?

We can be healthy, growing, multiplying, successful, bountiful in our faith, in our churches, in our programs and projects… and still be completely inaccessible and unusable.